The Crow: Shinigami
by BloodRaevynn
Summary: A twist on the definition of what can make a Crow. (2x1, 3x4/4x3, 5x? [undecided]) I wrote this more than a year ago and got stuck on chapter 5; any encouragement would be appreciated.
1. Prologue

A/N: I wrote this more than a year ago (part of it's archived somewhere; I don't remember where); it's not finished yet ('cause I got a case of severe writers block), and I've since changed muses (so I don't know if Cyra and this story are compatible; this was Malysa's baby), so bare with me. I'm hoping some fan encouragement will help me finish this.  
  
I'm pretty much sticking to the Crow rules (unlike the idiots who were responsible for the most recent Crow movie), but there's a difference in interpretation (actually, I'm in the process of writing a Crow Screenplay along these same basic lines; so if you attempt to steal my interpretation, I'll be very upset); let's just say it's not your stereotypical Crow fic, and leave it at that; also I'm borrowing a bit from the TV series (just the part about the markings not being makeup). There are a couple of minor differences from what's usually in a Crow fic, the only major difference is that Duo is _extremely_ unbalanced (believe me, you'll see what I mean). Anyway, enjoy.  
  
Disclaimer: The only thing that's mine is the storyline; and maybe a few original characters.  
  
WARNINGS:  
  
Death; someone dies, pretty straightforward.  
  
Angst; depressing.  
  
Violence; what some people say is on TV too much.  
  
There will be Yaoi; yes, there will.  
  
The Crow: Shinigami  
  
Prologue  
  
  
  
He could hear the footfalls just around the corner behind him as he ran madly down the corridor. He felt the warm blood soaking the fabric of his right sleeve, running down the exposed skin below his elbow, dripping off to splatter on the white floor; leaving a trail even an idiot could follow, never mind the person hunting him.  
  
His vision blurred.  
  
'Not tears, not from fear, not from—it's only from the pain in my shoulder.  
  
'Boys don't cry.'  
  
He could practically feel the hunter gaining on him, knew that there was only so much time before the predator found its prey.  
  
'Window at the end of the hall.  
  
'Crash through?  
  
'Two hundred foot fall into the ocean. Not much chance of surviving that.  
  
'Take the corridor at the end.  
  
'Hope he doesn't come around the corner before I get to the end of the hall.'  
  
Close to the end of the corridor he began to angle his run, so he could make it around the corner without loosing too much speed. He realized he'd have to slow down more or he'd crash into the floor-to- ceiling window.  
  
A crash of thunder and burning agony in his right thigh took the situation out of his hands. He slammed into the window head first at nearly full speed.  
  
The world went black.  
  
The first thing he noticed, upon opening his eyes, was the silvery spider web of cracks in the glass that dominated his field of vision from where he lay on the cold floor, mostly on his stomach. The second thing was the warm, sticky wetness trickling down his forehead to the outer corner of his left eye, and the headache accompanying it. The third thing, which brought him fully back to reality, was the footsteps resolutely making their way down the hallway to where he lay.  
  
He pushed himself up onto his knees with his good arm, hissing as the position put pressure on the bullet wound in his thigh, and saw the hunter stalking towards him.  
  
The youth desperately regained his feet, realizing immediately that any attempt to walk would most likely end with him falling back to his previous position on the floor. His injured arm hung limply at his side, blood dripping from the fingers onto the floor. The hunter stopped walking and leveled the gun at him.  
  
'I'm gonna be killed with my own gun.' The boy thought. Other ironies of the situation occurred to him[1] and a sickly smile flickered across his face. This is the same place[2]...' The grin vanished. 'How stupid.'  
  
His eyes met those of the hunter, and he felt a thread of despair knot with one of fear.  
  
'I thought I'd be ready when my time came...  
  
'I'm not.  
  
'Not like this... Please, not like this!'  
  
The cold, malevolent gaze wavered, changed, only for a moment. The predator lowered the gun somewhat; still keeping it trained on the youth, and, almost hesitantly, walked forward, stopping two feet from the young man.  
  
Fingers brushed the high collar of the youth's shirt, and the injured boy shivered involuntarily, unsure of what was going on. Then the fingers hooked around the collar and violently ripped it, tearing the front of the shirt, revealing the gold crucifix against the pale skin of the boy's chest.  
  
The predator lifted the crucifix, examining it, then the hand closed around it and tore it from its owner's neck. The youth cried out; shock, loss, anger, anguish, and fear combined.  
  
Stepping back, the hunter leveled the gun at his prey's heart.  
  
"Oh, God." The injured boy whispered, closing his eyes in resignation to the absolute knowledge that his death was staring him in the face. He met his killer's eyes. "Why?"  
  
The cold eyes widened briefly, the lips parted; then the malice returned.  
  
The trigger was pulled.  
  
The force of the bullet sent the victim crashing back into the window and through it, as the already shattered glass gave way.  
  
Reaching up desperately with his blood-streaked hand, stinging from several gashes from the glass, he saw fragments of his shattered reflection in the shards of glass that glittered in the moonlight as they fell through the air around him, and his chestnut braid waving in the air above him...  
  
...all fading to red...  
  
...and then black.  
  
  
  
To the dark figure in the window it seemed that the black-clad, braided youth reached out to his killer in a final entreaty, before gravity took him and he plunged down, down, to fall beneath the waves of the ocean below.  
  
A crow, black as night with strange, amethyst eyes, flew through the window to land on the ground before the murderer. It opened its beak and cawed, seeming to break the spell that held the killer in perfect, deathly stillness.  
  
The crucifix dropped, clacking against the floor, from the killer's lifeless hand, and the dark figure fell, like a puppet with its strings cut, to its knees, staring out at the restless waves below, acknowledging nothing, even when the bird took the crucifix in its beak and flew away into the night...  
  
  
  
Notes:  
  
1: If you've watched Gundam Wing enough that you've practically memorized the series, and you paid close attention to the details in this story, you might be able to figure out what those ironies are; probably not, but tell me if you do. All will be revealed later in the story.  
  
2: If you figured out the 1st note, than it won't be much of a stretch to figure out where they are. 


	2. Chapter 01

A/N: You'll notice messages involving my ex-muse (Malysa) and my inner child (Kit); I decided to keep them in. After chapter 5 (if I write more from there) You won't see those anymore, or at least, not ones involving Malysa.  
  
Warnings:  
  
Yaoi (3+4), Angst, Self-Mutilation, a bit of OOC, Alternate Timeline*.  
  
DISCLAIMER:  
  
Characters, Not mine (except Nathan Williams, the particular crow in this story, and maybe a few extras).  
  
The Crow concept, also not mine (but I've tweaked it a little; I never let the truth get in the way of a good story).  
  
This fic, MINE MINE MINE MINE MINE!!!  
  
Malysa & Kit: ah-hem.  
  
Errr...well...you two are sort of me...eh-heh... onwiththestory!  
  
Chapter 1  
  
  
  
Heavyarms' ammunition had long since run out, and the Gundam fought now only with the blade that was its auxiliary weapon; Heavyarms was badly worn, but still held its ground.  
  
Sandrock was in worse condition; having lost one of its blades fairly early in the fight its performance had been severely impaired. The external sensors, though not completely useless, had been damaged, and now the visual input flickered in and out.  
  
They were still grossly outnumbered, and the battle was only going downhill for the two exhausted Gundam pilots.  
  
"Trowa, I want you to retreat."  
  
The brown haired pilot of Heavyarms looked down at the communication screen, and the golden haired boy who piloted Sandrock.  
  
"What?" Trowa asked, softly. His attention was momentarily taken as he dispatched another mobile suit. He listened as his partner explained.  
  
"Sandrock is too badly damaged to fight much longer, or to realistically escape," Trowa looked back at the screen sharply. The other boy lowered his eyes, gathering himself, before looking back into the screen, his aqua eyes meeting the visible green one, trying desperately to communicate everything in his heart, everything he had no time to say, to his partner.  
  
"I am going to self-destruct."  
  
"Quatre." Trowa whispered, closing his eyes against the pain that filled his heart.  
  
"Never forget, I love you." Quatre whispered, looking away from the communication screen. "Get out of here, Trowa."  
  
"No." Trowa's eyes opened, a determined expression in them. "I'm staying with you." Quatre looked back at Trowa incredulously. "We fight together, no matter what."  
  
A tear streaked Quatre's cheek, as drew a shaky breath. "I understand." He smiled softly at his partner, before turning back to the battle at hand.  
  
A flash of green was the only forewarning before two of the Leos abruptly exploded.  
  
"What-!?!" Quatre gasped, his eyes widening at what he saw. "Impossible!!!"  
  
Through the smoke, an unmistakable black and white Gundam appeared, glowing green scythe in hand.  
  
"Deathscythe." Trowa murmured.  
  
"Hey, guys!" A familiar face appeared on the communication screen, complete with manic grin. "Miss me?"  
  
"Duo!" Quatre exclaimed. "Is it really you?"  
  
"Who were you expecting, Relena?" Duo's grin became impossibly wider. "Let's kick some ASS!!!" The screen flickered off and Deathscythe proceeded to decimate the enemy mobile suits in record time.  
  
'He's improved.' Trowa noted, watching Deathscythe's swift movements. 'A lot.'  
  
  
  
"What happened, Duo?" Quatre asked, when they returned to the safehouse. "You've been missing for a year, Heero told us you'd been killed. Where have you been all this time?"  
  
"I'm kind of fuzzy about what happened when I went to rescue Heero; I know that I was shot, and I think remember falling out a window; the next thing I remember clearly is waking up on a beach. It took me the rest of the time to recover from my injuries and get back in shape.  
  
"A week ago I recovered Deathscythe from where I hid it, but the long distance communications are shot and I haven't had time to fix them." Duo shrugged. "And it was pure chance that I was there at the right time to help you guys.  
  
"Speaking of Heero, where is he?" Duo asked.  
  
"On a mission." Trowa said.  
  
"Nice to know he got out alright." Duo said. "When's he due back?"  
  
"We're not sure," Quatre said. "Sometimes we go for a month at a time without even hearing from him; we don't see WuFei too frequently either. Trowa and I are the only ones who've stuck together. Things sort of fell apart after you disappeared."  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Well, Heero started getting careless after...he got out of that hospital," Quatre explained. "He just couldn't focus on the missions. I think he felt guilty over what happened to you...what we thought had happened to you, anyway."  
  
"And WuFei?" Duo asked. "Wait, no. Let me guess. He ranted and raved about justice and then went after Treize?"  
  
"How did you guess?" Quatre said, with a brief smile. "Aside from that, the war with OZ has been a stalemate, we've kept them from accomplishing much but it's like fighting an uphill battle; our disadvantage is becoming clear."  
  
"I guess it'll take all five of us to win the war, huh?"  
  
"I hope so; I wouldn't want things to keep going as they are." Quatre said. "It's good to have you back, Duo."  
  
"It's good to _be_ back," Duo said. "I've been pretty lonely this last year."  
  
"Do you want something to eat?"  
  
"Nah. I need to get to work repairing Deathscythe." Duo headed back out. "See ya later."  
  
Quatre frowned as the door shut behind the Deathscythe pilot.  
  
"What's wrong, Quatre?" Trowa asked.  
  
"Trowa, have you ever known Duo to refuse food?"  
  
"It's been a year, people change."  
  
"I know, but it's not just that," Quatre tried to explain. "Something about him feels...wrong."  
  
"Do you think he's a traitor?"  
  
"No!" Quatre shook his head emphatically. "I guess I'm just worried about him, that's all. It just doesn't quite feel real that he's alive. It's like a dream I'm expecting to wake up from at any moment."  
  
Trowa gently pulled the smaller pilot into his embrace holding him tightly to reassure himself that the other boy was really there, and not lying in bloody pieces on the battlefield.  
  
"Trowa…" Quatre said softly, his voice choked with emotion, looking up into the face of the man he loved so deeply.  
  
The kiss was gentle, chaste at first, and then it deepened into a near-desperate fervor, fear of loss almost tangible between the two.  
  
  
  
Duo finished the repairs on his Gundam, and wondered what to do with himself next. Too much time; not enough. Duo fingered the crucifix in his pocket, thoughtfully. 'Maybe I should go into town and get the chain fixed.' But a large part of him disagreed with the notion; the broken chain was symbolic.  
  
'Of what, I wonder? My missing memories, or...' He did _not_ want to think about _that_.  
  
'If I'm not careful, someone will notice. They have enough problems without burdening them with mine.'  
  
Duo thought about the strain he had seen in the faces and eyes of his fellow pilots; the ongoing war had taken its toll on them; all the more reason to finish it quickly.  
  
'No,' he thought, as he watched the last rays of sunlight begin to fade. 'I definitely do _not_ want them to find out what happened to me.'  
  
  
  
"Do you think I should go find him?" Quatre asked, looking out the window into the night.  
  
Trowa shook his head, in response.  
  
"I suppose. He can take care of himself, after all."  
  
Quatre paced a little, before looking back outside.  
  
"But don't you think we should wait up for him?" The blonde boy asked. Trowa looked decidedly amused. "That way, if it gets too late then we _can_ go find him and-OH!"  
  
"I think _we_ should go to bed." Trowa said to the boy whom he had, quite unexpectedly and quite literally, swept off his feet.  
  
"Oh." Quatre said. "Okay."  
  
  
  
Duo was perched, birdlike, on a thick tree branch, his amethyst eyes regarding the stars somberly. Slowly his eyes lowered to the pale flesh of his wrist, making out the vein.  
  
Vaguely, he recognized that he was in one of his 'moods' again; but he was too preoccupied with unbuttoning his shirt to care. Once his shirt was unbuttoned he pulled the hair elastic off the end of his braid and shook his hair out, letting the breeze play with it. Finally, Duo reached into his pants pocket and pulled out a switchblade.  
  
  
  
The blonde boy abruptly sat up in bed, waking the brunette who was sharing the bed with him.  
  
"Quatre?" Trowa asked, concerned.  
  
The smaller boy bolted from the bed, pulling on a shirt. Trowa was immediately beside him.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Something's wrong!" Quatre took a deep breath to calm himself. "It's okay, go back to bed; I'm just going to find Duo."  
  
"I'm going with you."  
  
"No, that's not necessary, I'll be right back."  
  
  
  
Blood, so dark as to be nearly black, sluggishly welled up from the deep cuts along the veins in Duo's wrists. Unsatisfied, he made a jagged tear across his chest as well, deep enough that the knife encountered bone.  
  
Noticing that the cuts on his wrists were starting to close he slashed them again, then, almost as an afterthought, Duo stabbed the knife into his left thigh.  
  
  
  
Quatre ran in the direction that he thought Duo had taken, his unease increasing by the second. He stopped at the base of the tree Duo was perched in, looking around for the other pilot.  
  
There wasn't a sound as Duo landed behind him.  
  
"Something wrong, Quatre?"  
  
The Sandrock pilot whirled suddenly, startled by the other's voice.  
  
Duo stood, silhouetted by the rising moon, with his shirt open and fluttering around him, his loose hair almost floating in the breeze, and his face hidden in shadow, though, somehow, Quatre could see his eyes clearly.  
  
"Are you alright, Duo?"  
  
"Why wouldn't I be?"  
  
"I know there's something wrong with you!"  
  
"You have plenty of things to worry about without worrying about me."  
  
"Duo, please tell me; I need to know, I want to help you!"  
  
"It's far too late to help me."  
  
Duo sighed, shaking his head slightly. "Go back to bed, Quatre, I'm in a strange mood tonight; I doubt I'll be very good company."  
  
Reluctantly, Quatre went back to the house, never noticing the bloody switchblade Duo still held.  
  
Duo held out his hand and an amethyst-eyed crow landed on it, its talons digging into Duo's flesh, though Duo didn't seem to notice. The crow seemed to glare at him with amethyst eyes as bright as Duo's.  
  
"Don't look at me like that," Duo said. "I know you hate it when I do stuff like that, but it's none of your business."  
  
Duo turned, the moonlight catching his unnaturally white skin, the dark shadows around his slightly glowing eyes, and the black-lipped grin that seemed to be painted onto his face.  
  
The bird croaked at him, and then took to the air once again.  
  
  
  
  
  
Notes:  
  
* Naturally, with Duo's death, the war would take a different course and might still be going on a year later; I haven't decided the exact divergence point, since I've only seen up to episode 10 (on DVD because Duo's dubbed voice sends me into convulsions).  
  
- Modern amendment: I've now seen the whole series; I'm working on figuring out that divergence point. Duo still met Hilde in this, but I think the story diverged sometime before then; additionally, Une's still an unscrupulous bitch. 


	3. Chapter 02

Chapter 2  
  
  
  
It had been nearly a week since Duo's return when the group met up with WuFei again.  
  
They had moved to another safehouse and Trowa had gone on a mission that had lasted a couple of days, so Duo and Quatre were waiting for his return.  
  
"Did you contact Professor G yet?" Quatre asked.  
  
"Yeah, he suggested that I rest up for another week or so before I go on any missions; just to be sure." Duo grinned. "If ya ask me, I think the old geezer missed me."  
  
At the sound of a truck engine Quatre jumped up from his seat and went to the window.  
  
Duo laughed. "Could you be any _more_ eager, Q-chan?" Quatre blushed.  
  
"Trowa's back." Quatre said, smiling brightly. "He brought WuFei with him!" Duo joined him at the window, watching the other two Gundam pilots grab their things from the truck and start toward the house.  
  
"I wonder if Trowa told him I'm back?" Duo said, with a grin; as he walked back from the window. The door opened and WuFei followed Trowa into the safehouse, where he caught sight of the grinning Deathscythe pilot. WuFei's jaw dropped.  
  
"D-Duo!?!"  
  
"I guess _that_ answers my question." Duo commented, still grinning. "Hey, Wu-man, what's—Oof!" Duo found himself the surprised recipient of an unexpected, bone-crushing hug [1]. "Uh, Wuffie, do you mind? I sort of need those ribs." WuFei promptly let go and backed off.  
  
"Sorry, Duo." WuFei said. "I guess I missed your constant jabbering more than I thought."  
  
"Well, you know what they say, Wu-chan; _too much_ quiet can be a _bad_ thing."  
  
"Do NOT call me Wu-chan." WuFei growled, before heading to his room to unpack.  
  
"Does anyone else but me think that was weird?" Duo asked.  
  
  
  
"So, are we gonna blow it up or tear it apart?" Duo asked. "Or both? Please say both; I _like_ both!"  
  
"Both." Quatre said, with an amused smile. "We need to take out the underground mobile suit hanger as well, it would be difficult do that with just the Gundams."  
  
"Yippee!"  
  
"Can we be serious here?" WuFei asked, with an annoyed glare at Duo.  
  
"I _am_ serious! I've been out of action for a _year_! I'm going _stir- crazy_!"  
  
"That's obvious." WuFei muttered. "Can you still pilot?"  
  
"Hell yeah!" Duo said, looking offended. "It's like riding a bike!"  
  
"A bike?" WuFei asked, with a raised eyebrow. "You're comparing piloting a _Gundam_, THE most powerful mobile suit in the _world_, with _riding a BIKE_!?!"  
  
"Excuse me," Quatre said, pointedly. "Can we please get back to the mission? Remember? Mission? Weapons depot?"  
  
The two pilots looked at Quatre sheepishly.  
  
"Sorry." Duo said.  
  
"Okay. Trowa and I will act as a distraction while the two of you sneak in and set the explosives; afterwards you two come and back us up and we take off as soon as the base goes up. There shouldn't be too much trouble with the mobile suits, since this is the halfway-point between the manufacturer and the bases, there shouldn't be too many pilots."  
  
"Sounds like a party!" Duo said.  
  
  
  
"I'm done, " Duo said. "You?"  
  
"Finished." WuFei replied. "And not a moment too soon." He added, hearing shouting outside the hanger, just before the door slammed open and eight men in pilot's gear rushed in.  
  
"Looks like we'll have to fight our way out!" Duo exclaimed, with a manic grin. They dove behind the nearest mobile suit, as the MS pilots took notice of them and opened fire. "Cover me!" Duo ran out from behind their cover.  
  
"Maxwell! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU _DOING_!?!" WuFei shouted after Duo. "Fucking psycho." He picked off one of the pilots and aimed for another.  
  
WuFei had never seen Duo move so fast; the Deathscythe pilot took down two of his enemies with his pistol, then he staggered and dropped his gun; however, Duo recovered almost immediately and took down three more in quick succession, hand-to-hand, using moves straight out of martial arts movies. WuFei came out from behind the MS and took out the other two.  
  
"You alright, Maxwell?"  
  
"Yeah, fine." Duo took a deep breath and let it out, feeling his skin return to its natural color.  
  
"Don't give me that, I know you took a bullet."  
  
"It's only a flesh wound!" Duo protested, in a totally asinine British accent [2]. He picked up his pistol from where it had fallen.  
  
"Don't joke."  
  
"Really, it's fine," Duo said. "It only grazed my thigh." To prove his point, Duo walked, with only a slight limp, to the door. "You coming?"  
  
The two boys snuck out of the base with no further encounters; Duo pretending to limp, on a perfectly healed leg, the entire way.  
  
  
  
"HEEEEEERRROOO!!! Wait for MEEE!!!"  
  
Heero continued to walk away from the blonde girl as quickly as possible. He knew it had been a mistake to let Dr. J talk him into taking her into 'Protective Custody'; that is to say, he had kidnapped her, not that _she_ was complaining. This was the one instance in which Dr. J had had to do more than simply _order_ Heero to do something.  
  
Heero hadn't realized he'd stopped walking, until his thoughts were interrupted by a certain blonde girl latching on to him.  
  
"Let go." He snapped.  
  
"But I missed you!" She pouted, tightening her grip. "You just _disappeared_, and I haven't seen you for a whole YEAR!"  
  
Heero rolled his eyes in exasperation; this girl was really wearing on his patience. She was like an obnoxious little sister.  
  
She giggled.  
  
"This is _soooo_ romantic, Hee-chan," Relena said, lost in her own little fantasy world. "My white knight [3], carrying me off into the sunset."  
  
Okay…maybe _not_ a little sister…[4]  
  
"I'm only following my orders," he said, disengaging her arms from around him and continuing in the direction of his Gundam.  
  
"Where are we going now?"  
  
He glared at her. "To meet up with the other three pilots."  
  
"Three? Then…it wasn't just a rumor…"  
  
Heero helped Relena into Wing's cockpit, and strapped himself into his seat.  
  
"Sit down and don't touch anything."  
  
"Sit down where?"  
  
"…"  
  
Relena managed to wedge herself into the space between Heero's seat and one of the control panels. She held tightly onto Heero's leg as the Gundam lifted off; unfortunately, Heero was too busy piloting to do anything about it this time.  
  
  
  
The sudden opening of the front door received the exact same response from the two Gundam pilots in the living room; firearms drawn and pointed at whoever was coming in.  
  
Relena yelped when she found herself being held at gunpoint by Trowa and WuFei.  
  
"ONNA!!! Don't you know how to _knock_!?!" WuFei shouted, holstering his pistol. Trowa followed suit, as Heero came in as well.  
  
"Heero, Relena, what a pleasant surprise!" Quatre said, coming in from the kitchen.  
  
"Well, well, the gang's all here!" Duo said, from behind Quatre. Heero's mouth dropped open in shock. "Hmm, I seem to be getting that a lot lately; maybe I should work on my entrance."  
  
"Duo." Heero whispered, meeting those amethyst eyes. Something flashed in Duo's eyes and Duo paled momentarily, before a mask slipped into place to cover whatever it was he was feeling. "No," Heero said. "There's no way you could have survived."  
  
Duo's eyes narrowed. "You should know," He replied softly. Suddenly he plastered his usual grin on his face. "I guess everything's back to normal, ne? That's great, 'cause I think we don't stand a chance if we don't all stick together.  
  
"Anyway, what's Relena doing here?" Duo gestured at the girl.  
  
"Dr. J suggested that we take her into protective custody, after this last attempt on her life."  
  
"So, basically, you shanghaied her." Duo put in.  
  
"I came along _willingly_." Relena said.  
  
"Well there was never any question of _that_." Duo rolled his eyes.  
  
"Excuse me." Heero said, taking his duffel bag and heading for the stairs.  
  
"First door on the right." Quatre volunteered.  
  
"Hn."  
  
  
  
Heero heard the door slam shut behind him and didn't even have a chance to turn around before he was grabbed and flung against the nearest wall, which just happened to have a bed pushed up against it. He hit his head against the wall and landed on the bed.  
  
"I _trusted_ you." Duo stalked toward him, his eyes and lips lightly shadowed, as he barely held the Crow Aspect at bay. "You betrayed me."  
  
  
  
NOTES:  
  
Well this is interesting, ne?  
  
1. Okay, some people might think that this was just _slightly_ OOC, but not in my opinion; Wu lost his whole damn colony, for crying out loud, having a friend just suddenly come back from the dead is definitely a hug- worthy thing. No I have no plans for getting Duo and Wu together. 2x5/5x2 fans, please put down your implements of destruction.  
  
2. Three guesses what my dad has on DVD, and the first two don't count.  
  
3. I think Relena is past her Star Prince stage (who comes up with that $#!%?), but not out of the melodramatic fantasies just yet. I think that Heero and the other pilots resemble knights much more than princes; and _my_ version of Relena has realized that too. (Damn, I love being a fic- writer!)  
  
4. Unless, of course, we're talking about Nanami; can you just see Relena running after Zechs? "Oniisama!!!" shudder I think I've been watching a little too much Revolutionary Girl Utena. 


	4. Chapter 03

Chapter 3  
  
"I _trusted_ you.  
  
You betrayed me."  
  
"I thought of you as a friend, and I _thought_ you considered me a friend too, or an _ally_ at least." The braided boy closed his eyes. "I suppose I overestimated you."  
  
Heero reached for his gun.  
  
Duo chuckled and opened his eyes.  
  
"Looking for this?" He pointed the gun at Heero. "You never answered my question, Heero. Why? Why did you do it?"  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"You don't _know_?" The hand holding the gun dropped to his side and he shook his head, a slightly hysterical laugh issuing forth. "You ran me down and blew a fucking _hole_ through my chest, and you have the _nerve_ to tell me that you don't know _WHY_!?! I want answers, Yuy! I _deserve_ answers!"  
  
Heero looked down, away from Duo, at his fists grasping the blankets on the bed.  
  
"Did Dr. J order you to kill me? Was I a threat to your mission? Did you think I was a traitor? Did you…did you find…something…out about me that you…you couldn't deal with?"  
  
Heero remained silent for a moment, then he responded, "No."  
  
Duo sank down to the floor by the bed, bowing his head so that his brow rested on his knees. He was silent and still for a while, before he spoke again.  
  
"Damn you." He growled, straightening somewhat, but not looking up. "If…if it'd been one of those things… I might have been able to forgive you."  
  
Heero whispered something.  
  
"What was that?"  
  
He repeated himself, a bit more loudly; "I'm sorry."  
  
Now Duo looked up, an expression somewhere between disbelief, sorrow, and rage on his face.  
  
"I can't forgive you, Heero!" Duo said. "I can _never_ forgive you!"  
  
"I know."  
  
"Then why the _hell_ did you bother apologizing!?!" Duo got back to his feet "I know it can't be because you CARE, because you already made it obvious that you don't!!!"  
  
Heero didn't reply, but lowered his head further, so that Duo couldn't see his face.  
  
"I want to make one thing _abundantly_ clear," Duo said, checking the safety and then tossing the gun onto the bed next to Heero. "After I walk out that door we _never_ discuss this again; everything goes back to the way it was before. EVERYTHING. We can't win this war unless the five of us can _trust_ one another; we _do not_ turn on each other, no matter what. Do you understand?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Good," Duo said. "There's one more thing." He crouched over Heero on the bed, pushing him back against the wall.  
  
Duo pressed his lips to Heero's in a rough kiss, biting the Wing pilot's lips to draw blood, and then licking them clean. Duo's lips brushed Heero's cheek and jaw, before stopping a couple inches from his ear and whispering three words:  
  
"Omae o korosu."  
  
Duo straightened, and held out his closed fist, palm down, in front of Heero's face, and opened his hand, allowing his Crucifix to drop onto Heero's lap.  
  
"Your life is mine, to do with as I please; consider this to be a reminder of that fact… a reminder of what you owe me."  
  
  
  
"Lady Une, there's something I'd like you to see."  
  
"Yes, sir?" Une said, shutting Treize's office door behind her as she came in.  
  
"This was taken from the security files in one of our European bases three weeks ago; the one that the Gundam pilots attacked." He indicated the screen, where the images of Sandrock and Heavyarms' battle were playing back.  
  
"It appears that we are winning," Une observed. "But we lost that battle, I don't understand what happened."  
  
"I know _what_ happened, but I still don't understand." Treize said.  
  
Une's eyes widened when she saw Deathscythe appear, then she took a closer look at the image. "They must have found a new pilot."  
  
"That's what I thought as well," Treize said, replacing the data disk with another. "But then I received this record from the attack on our weapons depot in France, four nights ago."  
  
The image of the hanger area appeared on the screen; presently WuFei entered, followed by Duo. Treize froze the image and zoomed in on Duo's face.  
  
"I thought that you said that pilot 02 had been eliminated, Lady."  
  
"H-he was, this is impossible!"  
  
"Perhaps your information was incorrect. Would you care to tell me exactly how the Deathscythe pilot was supposedly killed?"  
  
"I still have the files, including footage from the security tapes, if you would like to see them."  
  
"Yes, I think that would be a good idea."  
  
Once Une had left, Treize let the tape play further, stopping it again as Duo attacked the OZ MS pilots; he zoomed in on the face again; looking, with interest, at Duo in Crow Aspect.  
  
Heero and Duo had left on a mission that would occupy them for a week or so, and Trowa and Quatre were taking advantage of the current lull between their missions to spend time together, leaving WuFei to keep an eye on Relena.  
  
Relena huffed in annoyance, as WuFei steadfastly ignored her attempts to start a conversation.  
  
"Are you always this quiet?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Don't you want to talk?"  
  
"No."  
  
"When will Heero get back?"  
  
"ONNA! WILL YOU SHUT UP!?!"  
  
The brewing argument was fortunately forestalled by the timely arrival of Trowa and Quatre.  
  
"WuFei, we stopped by the post office while we were in town," Quatre said, holding a manila envelope. "This came for you." WuFei muttered a thank you and snatched the envelope out of Quatre's hand. "Wait! Shouldn't you be more careful? What if it's booby-trapped or something?"  
  
"I know who it's from." WuFei said, going immediately to his room and locking the door behind him.  
  
WuFei sat down at his desk and booted up his laptop, opened the envelope while it was booting, and pulled a letter, a picture, and a disk out of it. He smiled faintly as he read the letter, inserting the disk once the computer was running, then he looked at the picture before placing it in his wallet. Finally, WuFei opened the video file contained in the disk and watched with a genuine, though wistful smile.  
  
"Xian." He whispered.  
  
  
  
Duo was restless.  
  
Heero had gone to bed already, but Duo couldn't sleep; he didn't need to anymore, and the few times he'd managed to achieve something resembling sleep he'd had flashbacks of his death. He'd actually finished his homework, out of boredom.  
  
'I haven't contacted Hilde yet,' Duo thought. 'Well, that's something to do.' He went to the desk and booted up the computer. 'I wonder what she's been up to?'  
  
Duo was surprised when he found the information he was looking for.  
  
'She's on Earth?' Duo read further. 'Let's see, she's living in America with a guy named Nathan Williams…' He made a query on Hilde's roommate. 'He's a med student. No connections to OZ, no questionable connections, no police record. Completely clean; seems like a nice guy.' Duo considered whether or not to send a message to Hilde, then decided against it. 'I think I'll just pay her a visit once this mission is completed. It'll be a nice surprise.'  
  
  
  
Heero woke up, to find Duo already dressed and ready; for a moment he panicked, thinking he must have overslept.  
  
"Surprised that I'm actually awake before you?" Duo asked, with a shit- eating grin. "Get used to it, this is a permanent arrangement."  
  
Heero watched Duo throughout the day, and, though Duo's _behavior_ was mostly normal, there were some things that were just downright odd.  
  
Duo hadn't eaten breakfast with Heero, and hadn't shown up for lunch either; then again he might have just been avoiding the Wing pilot, which, given the circumstances, was perfectly understandable. The braided boy had also finished his homework; which he'd always avoided with the excuse that they'd be leaving anyway, so why bother? Considering the fact that Duo had been up later than Heero; much later, since he hadn't done his homework while Heero was around, and had gotten up before him as well, he couldn't have gotten more than three hours of sleep, and therefore should have been a zombie throughout the day [1].  
  
Heero was even more disturbed, the next day, to discover, after faking sleep all night to see when Duo got to bed, that Duo didn't go to bed _at all_, but instead, stayed awake, restlessly doing one menial thing after another, even making paperclip chains and then taking them apart again, anything to keep busy. Obviously insomnia.  
  
After three days, knowing that Duo probably didn't sleep, and still unable to confirm whether or not he ate, Heero confronted him.  
  
  
  
"You haven't been sleeping, have you?" Heero asked. "And I haven't seen you eat."  
  
"Why do _you_ care?" Duo shot back, sitting up on his bed.  
  
"You need sleep."  
  
"I _can't_ sleep," Duo said. "Nightmares." He didn't have to elaborate. "And as for eating," He continued. "My appetite's changed over the last year."  
  
"Hn." Heero nodded slightly and went into the bathroom, getting a bottle of pills out of the medicine cabinet. Returning to the bedroom he tossed the bottle to Duo.  
  
"What's this?" Duo asked, reading the label. "Sedatives?" That particular drug caused the user to sleep without dreaming.  
  
"Aa."  
  
"You take them?"  
  
"Hn."  
  
Duo read the dosage, then shook out two pills and handed them to Heero, before taking two as well and heading to the bathroom, where he dropped the pills back into the bottle before putting it away in the cabinet.  
  
Heero was already in bed when Duo came back and climbed into bed himself. Duo faked sleep until he was certain Heero was asleep, then rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling.  
  
'Heero takes those sedatives…he has nightmares too. Why?  
  
'He killed me, so why should he care if I'm sleeping or eating?  
  
'Why did he kill me to begin with?' He smirked. 'If I still needed sleep I wouldn't be _able_ to sleep.' He got up and walked over to the other bed, staring down at the Wing pilot in contemplative silence for several minutes.  
  
Duo turned his head when he heard the tapping at the window; he went and opened it and his Spirit Guide flew in and perched on the back of the desk chair.  
  
"Hi there," Duo whispered. "Where have _you_ been?"  
  
The crow cocked her head and then hopped over to Heero's duffel bag on the desk, pecking at the zipper.  
  
"What is it?" Duo murmured, opening the bag, then moving aside so that the crow could have access. She poked her head in and reached into an inner pocket, pulling something out.  
  
It was Duo's crucifix.  
  
The crow dropped it into Duo's palm. He examined it more closely, and realized that the chain had been repaired.  
  
"Why would he—?" Suddenly Duo's eyes flew open wide, staring back to another time and place.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~_^_~~~~~~~~~  
  
||  
  
He stepped back, the crucifix in his hand, and leveled the gun at Duo's heart.  
  
"Oh God." Duo whispered, his face paling more, making the blood running down his left cheek stand out garishly. Duo's violet eyes closed, and when they opened they conveyed fear, betrayal, and the acceptance of someone who knew he was about to die and there was no way to prevent it. "Why?"  
  
His breath caught in his throat.  
  
His lips parted slightly, as he tried to force oxygen into his inexplicably frozen lungs.  
  
Suddenly his resolve firmed; he knew what he had to do.  
  
He pulled the trigger.  
  
Duo was flung back against the window, which gave way as he hit it and he fell into the night air.  
  
For an endless moment time was frozen and he couldn't feel his body.  
  
The sound of shattering glass seemed go on and on, driving icy-hot spikes into his mind.  
  
Duo's body seemed to hang in the air, with the glass reflecting the moonlight around him; an ethereal vision of a fallen angel, blood streaked hand reaching to the heavens for a savior who never came. Duo fell, plunging beneath the dark waves below.  
  
He stared blankly down the cliff face to the waves; then the call of the crow broke the spell, and the hand that gripped the cross, so tightly that blood dripped from his fist, relaxed, letting the cross clatter against the floor, before his body became too weak to stand and he fell to his knees, his hands, one still holding Duo's gun, landing in the still warm pool of blood, where Duo had lain scant moments before; his own blood mixing with that of the braided pilot he had just murdered.  
  
The rush of wings went unnoticed.  
  
~~~~~~~~~_^_~~~~~~~~~  
  
||  
  
Duo nearly dropped the crucifix.  
  
"What was _that_?" He asked, shuddering from the force of the foreign memory.  
  
Once he'd gathered himself again and his shivers had ceased, he replaced the cross in the bag; then he noticed that the crow was gone.  
  
Duo went back to his bed, with his thoughts chasing each other chaotically, and stared at the ceiling for the rest of the night.  
  
  
  
Treize went over Une's files, then closed his eyes and sat back with a sigh. He'd ended up with more questions then he'd started out with.  
  
There was little chance that the Deathscythe pilot could have survived the blood loss, the fall, AND the bullet through his heart. By all rights, pilot 02 _should_ be dead.  
  
And then there was the matter of Une's methods. He read through one of the files again, frowning.  
  
"I am beginning to lose hope that you will ever learn grace, Lady." 


	5. Chapter 04

Chapter 4  
  
"Where are you going?" Heero asked, as Duo mounted his "borrowed" bike, after the successful completion of their mission.  
  
"I have a few things to take care of," Duo said. "I'll contact you guys when I'm done."  
  
"Hn."  
  
"Take care, Heero." Duo roared off on the bike.  
  
~*~  
  
Treize watched impassively as Colonel Une entered the room and stood before the desk.  
  
"You asked to see me?"  
  
"Yes," Treize said, standing up and moving to look out the window behind him. "I went over your records, and I agree with you; the pilot of Deathscythe should not have survived. However the fact remains that he somehow did; I want you to find out how."  
  
"Of course, Your Excellency."  
  
"There is one other thing, Lady," He said, turning to face her. "I do not approve of your methods; your lack of honor alarms me."  
  
Une had no response to that.  
  
~*~  
  
Duo smirked at the moonlit apartment building before him; he knew that Hilde and her roommate were probably asleep already.  
  
He was feeling mischievous tonight.  
  
Nathan Williams made his way back to his bedroom from the bathroom in the darkness. Opening the door, he stopped, seeing a dark figure standing over his fiancée.  
  
"Freeze, I have a gun!" Nathan shouted.  
  
The figure chuckled. "_Riiight_," He said, plainly amused. "And _I_ work for _OZ_."  
  
"What's going on?" A drowsy, female voice asked.  
  
"Oh, nothing much," A familiar male voice replied. "Your boyfriend's just holding me at imaginary gunpoint."  
  
"Who--?" Hilde shot up in bed. 'I know that voice!' She thought.  
  
The stranger's deft fingers reached out and turned on the bedside lamp.  
  
"Hey, Hilde, long time, no see, ne?" The braided boy said with a grin.  
  
"Duo?" Hilde gasped, tears rushing to her eyes. "Oh my God! You're alive!" She leapt out of bed and pulled her friend into a tight embrace.  
  
"In a manner of speaking," Duo chuckled.  
  
"Um, someone want to fill me in?" Nathan asked.  
  
He was thoroughly ignored.  
  
"WuFei told me you'd been killed!" Hilde accused. "Where have you been? Why didn't you contact me?"  
  
"Hey, hey, it's alright." Duo said, brushing the tears off her face. "WuFei, huh? I'd have thought Quatre would be the one to call. So, you gonna introduce us?"  
  
"Oh, um," Hilde let go of Duo and stepped back. "Duo, this is my fiancé, Nathan Williams; Nathan, this is Duo Maxwell."  
  
Nathan took Duo's hand in a firm handshake, one meant to warn off any advances on Hilde, but was shocked when the death-cold hand tightened around his, painfully.  
  
"Hilde is like a sister to me." Duo said, jovially, with a hint of a threat in the undertone. "You'd better take good care of her."  
  
"Duo!"  
  
"Do you have time to talk, Hilde?" Duo asked. "It can wait until tomorrow, of course, but we have some catching up to do."  
  
"I think it would be best to wait until tomorrow, Mr. Maxwell-"  
  
"Duo, please; I'm only sixteen, after all."  
  
"Duo, right," Nathan said. "Do you have someplace to stay, Duo?"  
  
"Eh...I just got into town tonight," Duo said, sheepishly. "I could probably find a motel or something-"  
  
"Nonsense!" Hilde said. "We have a spare bedroom now, since-"  
  
"Since lover boy over there started sleeping in yours?" Nathan and Hilde blushed. Duo smirked. "Cute, a matching pair."  
  
"Oh! To bed with you, you hooligan! Maybe I should start teasing _you_ about-"  
  
Duo's eyes snapped up, the strange glint in them effectively silencing her; then he smiled, trying to force a cheerful mask into place.  
  
"Pleasant dreams, Hilde, Nate. We'll talk tomorrow." Duo shouldered the backpack he'd brought with him and went off to find the other bedroom.  
  
"Hilde?" Nathan asked, noticing his fiancée's worried expression.  
  
"I-I've never seen him act like that," she murmured. "Something's really wrong!"  
  
"You can ask him about it tomorrow, love," Nathan said. "Come on, let's go to bed."  
  
"No, I think I should talk to him now," Hilde disagreed, leaving the room.  
  
She came to the bedroom door and knocked.  
  
"Duo?"  
  
"Come on in!" Duo called. Hilde opened the door.  
  
"Are you alright, Duo?" Hilde asked.  
  
"I'm as fine as I can be, all things considered." He replied.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
"Do you really want to know?" Duo asked, sitting down on the foot of the bed and looking at her. His eyes held a promise that this was the point of no return.  
  
Hilde hesitated for only a second before replying.  
  
"Yes!" She all but shouted. "Where have you been this last year, Duo?"  
  
Duo smiled sadly and looked down at his hands, clasped before him.  
  
"At the bottom of the ocean, with a bullet through my heart," He looked back at her, his eyes serious. "I died a year ago, Hilde."  
  
Hilde's hands flew to her mouth, and she nearly collapsed, before Duo grabbed her and pulled her to sit on the bed next to him.  
  
"I-I don't believe.I _can't_ believe..." But his eyes told the truth of his statement.  
  
Duo sighed and pulled out his switchblade, flicked out the blade, and slashed his wrist; holding it out to her so that she could clearly see it heal itself. She touched the healed skin gingerly.  
  
"How-? What-?" She took a deep breath, to steady her pounding heart. "I-I think you'd better start at the beginning."  
  
He nodded and started the story.  
  
(((((Duo's POV)))))  
  
Heero was captured on a Recon mission; I never got the specifics of it, of course. He was being held at what was formerly an Alliance Military Hospital; an ironic situation, because I helped him bust out of that same hospital once before, right after we met.  
  
The place was dead as a tomb, not a person in sight; maybe that should have made me suspicious, I don't know. I located Heero, it was even the same room he'd been in before; I remember having an urge to blow out the wall again, just for history's sake.  
  
Heero was unconscious when I got to him, but he woke up while I was cutting his restraints. He kind of stared at me for a moment, like he'd never seen me before, or something. After that it's a bit of a blur, but I ended looking down the barrel of my gun at Heero; from the wrong side, with a gunshot wound in my right arm.  
  
So I did the only thing I could.  
  
I ran.  
  
The corridors had these floor-to-ceiling windows at the end of them; let me tell you, the glass wasn't as strong as it should have been. He shot me in the thigh when I got near to end of one of the corridors, and I crashed into the window and blacked out. I must have only been out for a couple of seconds, because when I came to, he was still walking down the hall towards me.  
  
I managed to stand up; but between the blood loss and the wound in my thigh I wasn't going anywhere. He aimed at me and I realized two things; one, I was going to be killed with my own gun; and two, Heero had shot me in the same places I had shot _him_ the night we met; the injuries that had landed him in that hospital the first time. Pretty damn ironic, don't you think?  
  
I don't know what it was, but for a second, Heero changed; he seemed...hesitant...like he didn't understand what was going on. He lowered the gun a little and came up to me; then he tore the front of my shirt, and took my crucifix.  
  
He backed up to where he was before, and trained the gun on me again. I asked him why, and he acted like I'd slapped him or something.  
  
Then he shot me through the heart.  
  
I went through the window and that was it; I was probably dead before I hit the water.  
  
I still can't get that image out of my head: Heero standing there inside the shattered glass, holding the smoking gun.  
  
It's a real slap in the face to be killed by the one you love.  
  
I woke up at the bottom of the ocean; confused as hell and barely coherent. My lungs were already full of water, so I didn't bother worrying about breathing. I got to shore, coughed up the water, and then just lay there for I dunno how long, until this huge crow landed in front of me and dropped my crucifix in my hand; I have no idea where she got it.  
  
I walked around for a while, and figured out that I'd been gone for exactly a year; then I went and got my Gundam and took off to find the others. By the time I found Trowa and Quatre, I'd learned that I can't die a second time; I just heal right up, except I usually get really pissed off and destroy things when that happens; I'm also much stronger and faster than I used to be.  
  
As near as I can figure, I'm either here to finish something I left undone, or get vengeance on my killer. I'm sticking around for the duration of the war either way; since the war would probably be what I left unfinished; and I can't kill Heero, because I'm stupid enough to still be in love with him.  
  
((((()))))  
  
"Oh, Duo," Hilde whispered.  
  
"Do you believe me?" Duo asked.  
  
"Crazy as it may be, yes."  
  
"Thank you," Duo said. "I couldn't tell the guys; they have plenty of problems as it is; but I needed to tell someone."  
  
"But, I don't understand..." Hilde said. "Why would Heero kill you?"  
  
"He says he doesn't know," Duo sighed. "You know, you're the only person I ever told about my feelings for Heero. Quatre might know, but he hasn't brought it up; did you know that he and Trowa _finally_ got together? Probably the only _good_ thing to come out of this damn war. I'm happy for them."  
  
"But it hurts seeing them happy together when your own dreams were shattered." Hilde observed.  
  
"Yeah, ain't that always the way?"  
  
"And I suppose it's similar, seeing me and Nate?"  
  
"I don't begrudge you your happiness, Hilde."  
  
"How long will you be staying?"  
  
"Not long, a day or so," Duo said. "Got to get back to the 'office'."  
  
"Of course," Hilde stood up, then embraced Duo again and placed a kiss on his forehead. "Sleep well."  
  
"I don't sleep," Duo said. "Don't eat either."  
  
"Dear Lord! The world will surely parish!" Hilde joked, covering the pain that shot through her heart. "Look outside, Duo; see if the sky's falling!"  
  
Duo laughed; a real laugh this time.  
  
"Then I suppose I should wish you several nice hours of _quiet_ introspection."  
  
"Rest in Peace, ne?" Hilde sobered at Duo's quiet comment.  
  
"Do you want to?"  
  
"Hm?"  
  
"Rest in Peace," She elaborated. "Finish whatever you were sent back to finish and go back to being...?" She trailed off, not wanting to think of it; let alone _say_ it.  
  
"I don't know; I don't think I have much say in the matter."  
  
"I hope you find some happiness in however much time you have."  
  
"Thank you," Duo said, softly. "Goodnight, Hilde."  
  
"Good night, Duo."  
  
Hilde squeezed Duo's hand gently and left the room.  
  
"What, exactly, is between you two, Hilde?" Nathan asked, as Hilde slipped into bed with him. "I can tell just by looking at you that you're closer to him then you are to any of your other friends."  
  
"If you're worried that I'll leave you for him, don't be," Hilde said, with amusement. "A year and a half ago I had a crush on him; missing a very important piece of information."  
  
"Which is?"  
  
"Duo was completely, irreversibly, and passionately head-over-heels in love with another man."  
  
"Oh."  
  
A/N: Well, I think I've explained how Duo died more times than strictly necessary (gomen, I think you're probably sick of hearing it by now); the good news is there won't be another rehashing of the circumstances for quite a while, the bad news is, there won't be another chapter for quite a while.that's right, this was the last of the chapters that I wrote a year and a half ago, I have _no more_, I am _stuck_; I also have a broken leg, which might lead to me actually writing chapter 5, but...don't hold your breath or anything, I don't want to be responsible for anyone incurring brain damage due to oxygen depravation. Positive Reinforcement would definitely do more good than harm (translation: Review please!). 


	6. Chapter 05

A/N: New Chapter! I finally wrote a new chapter!!! FINALLY!!! Flops back onto the couch with exhaustion I guess having a broken foot is good for _something_! I had hoped it would be longer, and it kind of jumps around more than I'd like, but it says what I want it to, so I guess it's good enough (though the perfectionist in me is screaming in anguish). And it gets me over the main hump; the next chapter should be _relatively_ short in coming (of course, considering that this chapter took a year and a half.).  
  
  
  
Chapter 5  
  
"Heero?" Relena pushed open the not-quite closed door to Heero's room and peered in. As per usual, the Wing pilot sat at the computer, typing up his mission report; he'd arrived less than an hour ago, several hours after Trowa and Quatre had left on separate missions. "Heero?" Relena tried again. She came in and sat on Heero's bed. "Is something wrong?" There was a slight disruption in the rhythm of Heero's typing. "I know that there is something wrong. Do you want to talk about it?" No response. "I understand; you don't like to talk about your feelings," Her smile contained a bit of a smirk. "Men." "We'll be moving to another safe-house as soon as Duo contacts us." Heero said. "We've stayed here too long." A message came in over the 'net as he said that. After he'd gone through the decryption protocols Heero read the short message, then deleted it and sent a reply. "Get your things together." Heero stated, shutting off his laptop, getting up, and leaving the room before Relena had time to reply.  
  
~*~  
  
"Leaving so soon?" Hilde asked, watching as Duo closed his duffle bag. "You've only been here two days!" "Yeah, well, you know," Duo said, winking. "Got to get back to the office." "Take care, Duo," Hilde said, hugging him tightly. "Now don't you worry about me, Hil'," Duo said, giving her a little squeeze before letting her go and turning to Nate. "You'd better take good care of Hilde; Natey-boy." "I intend to." "Good," Duo replied, with a shit-eating grin. "'Cause I'd hate to have to hunt you down and kill you; you seem like a nice guy." He slung his duffle over his shoulder and started for the door. "I'll come by and check up on you two as soon as I can." Duo waved over his shoulder and was gone.  
  
~*~  
  
Quatre opened his eyes; blinking to clear the haze. What had happened? He winced as several injuries made their presence known, and attempted to lift the hand that didn't hurt to his head, only to find that he couldn't. This, of course, meant only one thing. "Shit," Quatre said, succinctly; and that about summed it up. He remembered now that he'd been ambushed when he entered the base he'd been assigned to set explosives in. The Sandrock pilot calmly assessed his current condition: Badly bruised ribs, possibly broken; sprained or broken left wrist; possible concussion; several bruises and contusions, and he was restrained on a hard surface by metal cuffs on his wrists and ankles. _Not_ a good situation. Then the door opened and it proceeded to get a hell of a lot worse.  
  
~*~  
  
"I don't like it," WuFei said. "It has been three days and we haven't heard anything on the news about a base being destroyed." "There are a number of factors which could have delayed his mission," Heero offered. "What is the base's location?" Duo asked Heero. "What? Are you just going to burst in there shooting?" WuFei said, scathingly. "Hey!" Duo objected. "I can be subtle! Especially when a friend's life is on the line!" "I will go with him." Trowa said. "I'll have those coordinates for you in less than five minutes," Heero said as he left the room. "Trowa," Duo said, stopping Trowa, who was about to leave as well. "I need to talk to you for a moment. Outside." Trowa followed Duo out, and they walked a short distance from the current safe house before Duo spoke. "I would prefer if you stayed out of the way on this mission." "You doubt my objectivity," Trowa replied. "Think what you like.just, stay out of the way." "No." "I'll get him out, don't worry about that." Then Duo sighed. "You're going to be stubborn about this, aren't you?" "I can't just stand by." "Fine, but..fine."  
  
~*~  
  
Duo and Trowa entered Quatre's safe-house cautiously. After a quick sweep of the premises, which proved to be empty other than some supplies that Quatre had left, they settled in. "You can take the bed," Duo offered. "I'm going to be up a while longer anyway." "We should get started immediately." Trowa said. "You can't do anything if you're exhausted," Duo countered. "We don't want to make stupid mistakes." Trowa silently acquiesced. Duo waited an hour, checked on Trowa to make sure he was asleep, then went to open the kitchen window. The amethyst-eyed crow soon landed on the windowsill and cawed once for attention. "Look around the base," Duo told her. "Be my eyes. Find out where he is, if you can."  
  
A/N: Positive reinforcement is warmly received (Trans: Review onegai shimasu!) 


End file.
